View From The Couch
KERMIT’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITIONS (1979-1996). To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kermit the Frog’s first television appearance back in 1955, Disney has seen fit to re-release four of the six Muppet movies on DVD — why 1984’s The Muppets Take Manhattan and 1999’s Muppets From Space weren’t invited to the party is anybody’s guess. While…
What’s the big deal about the US military planting stories in the Iraqi press?
The US military has a problem. The people of Iraq don’t like the US military as much as the US military wants to be liked. One might conclude that Iraqis’ ill feelings toward the US military might have something to do with the violence and disorder that has plagued Iraq since the US military arrived.…
Animal Planet
Lions and gorillas and blockbusters, oh my! The late film critic Gene Siskel once opined that instead of remaking good movies, Hollywood should expend its time and money on new versions of bad movies. He had a point. Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was perfect in every way, and instead of burning up studio funds with a…
Armed and Dangerous
It’s a police brutality story with all of the elements reporters usually salivate over. Innocent people were gunned down by a marauding band of police officers who reportedly high-fived afterward. The police can’t keep their story straight about what really happened, but the carnage they left behind is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. They now…
Sonoma or bust
Corkscrew If you can stand the drab, rainy weather, January and February are the best times to visit California wine country. The region still has that romantic feel; you can still walk among the rows of vineyards — albeit brown and bald — and taste fantastic wines ’til you drop. Plane fares are cheaper, traffic…
See & Do
Wednesday, December 14 With the Barnettes of Charlotte, musical communion is a family affair. The band, comprised of three sisters and their baby bruh Rufus on drums, is a fine act on the rise with intergenerational appeal. The Barnettes’ mix of rock, pop and soul is certain to delight those burdened by holiday stress and…
Books for Cooks
People generally fall into two food groups: those who like to cook and those who like to eat (but don’t cook). These categories have that yin-yang approach to the kitchen that the words “gourmet” and “gourmand” do. Of course, many people fall into a third category: those who simply love food. They can talk about…
“Just Lie There”
I’ve only been shot at once that I know of. There might have been other attempts on my life, probably unsuccessful, that I don’t know about, but as far as actual weapons are concerned, I can only think of the one incident. And it’s not even like Lary wanted to kill me at the time,…
Old Coke and the New South
Larry Brown liked it poured over ice. Rick Bragg has been known to enjoy a frosty can with breakfast, even while reporting from the far reaches of the globe. William Faulkner preferred mixing his with a little — OK, a lot — of Jack Daniels whiskey. We are talking, of course, about Coca-Cola. Indeed, Southerners…
Riding the Rails
I hadn’t even celebrated my fortnight anniversary in Charlotte as I cruised down 7th Street, lost in the maze of one-way avenues trying to find the castle of books (library). It was nighttime, and I approached some train tracks. I’ve been a motorist for quite some time now. I’d like to think I’m down with…
The Wine List
WINE TASTING A different sampling of wines every week. Saturdays, 12-5pm. Free. Frugal MacDoogal’s, I-77 at Carowinds Blvd. 803-548-6634. WINE TASTINGS Wednesday Flight Nights, 5:30-7:30 p.m., three-wine tastings; $10. Four for Fridays, 5:30-7:30pm, four-wine tastings; $20. Reid’s Fine Foods, 7th Street Station. 704-377-1312. WINE TASTINGS Several tastings throughout the week. Free. Earth Fare, 12235 North…
What a concept!
Marcel Duchamp cracked the art world wide open when he mounted a urinal to the wall, signed it “R. Mutt” and called it art. Since then, anything’s been fair game. Check out the subversive world of conceptual art. Barbara Kruger www.barbarakruger.com Jenny Holzer http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2005/holzer/index1.html damali ayo www.damaliayo.com Dead Bug Funeral Kit www.davidbarringer.com/bugkit.html Free Art http://us.art4free.us
Real Life Top 5
Tick-tock, tick-tock … BREEENG!! Oops, those 15 minutes ran out on Charlotte rap-rockers Sunny Ledfurd around, oh, the turn of the millennium. But hey, pimpin’ ain’t easy. At least founding drummer Neel Jadeja let go of a good thing before it got embarrassing. In fact, he’s had his fingers in all aspects of the local…
That Old Time Religion
Beside his house, out past the lush flower gardens and natural areas tended by his wife Linda, the three or four barking dogs of various sizes, the assorted cats and the veritable symphony of birds, up the steps and around an old waterwell, premier Charlotte-area singer/songwriter David Childers keeps a small storage room. Inside is…
Foster Homes to Fashion Shows
Too many children in Mecklenburg County have no permanent family. So adoption recruiters have taken to putting kids on the catwalk. The man in the pew behind me at the Briar Creek Baptist Church is clapping so loudly my ears hurt. But we aren’t here to witness an especially rousing sermon. We’re partway through a…
Season’s Best
Videogames have long dominated as hot-ticket Christmas presents. Since Nintendo caught on, kids have been begging parents for the high-priced items released in December. This year, the Xbox 360 is the big to-do. Unfortunately, there aren’t even enough for reviewers, so many kids will be getting replacement gifts. If a sleek 360 isn’t available, here’s…
Slaughterhouse Many
John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies aside, American consciousness concerning the West does not range far beyond Monument Valley, Geronimo and George Custer. And, perhaps, Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. That Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and subsequent TV miniseries adaptation, sets out to deflate Western myth but instead reinforces the notions it aimed to debunk. Of late,…
Shalom, Mother——
The Jewish blogosphere is abuzz with the new Cool Jews movement, with the debate extending to “Jews who rock” (Courtney Love, Slash and Lenny Kravitz are perennially contested). Singer/songwriter Lewis Taylor, who’s made the album of the year and is likely the planet’s best cosmic soul singer, displays none of the overt hallmarks of the…
Ho-Hum in NY is Ho-ho-ho at PAC Box Office
And OTTC offers something completely different Seasoned New Yorkers might suppress a yawn when guests or relatives report spending an afternoon at Rockefeller Center and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. That’s if they’re uncommonly polite. True Manhattanites customarily respond to anyone who gushes over “The Living Nativity,” “Santa’s Gonna Rock-n-Roll,” or the world-famous Rockettes with…
Police Question Legal Citizen
Another native-born American, reportedly drunk, allegedly killed a Hispanic man in a car crash last weekend. It’s the second such incident in the past two weeks. Will we witness legislation introduced against native-born people? Will we see snarky comments in the anonymous buzz sections of The Rhinoceros Times and the Observer calling native-born men with…
The Blotter
Larry ‘n Moe in Jail: A hungry inmate was dining on some jailhouse grub when her cellmate began poking her fork into the hungry inmate’s plate. The inmate asked the fork poker to stop, but instead of relenting, the poker switched poking devices. In vintage Three Stooges form, she poked her finger into the woman’s…
Sex, Bribes and Technicalities
How one savvy businessman got out of paying child support Duane Bennett wasn’t one of those people who had wealth handed to him. With only a high school GED and no college education, he managed to amass $1.5 million in real estate by his late 20s. By his 40s he was running a million-dollar business…
Karma Cleanser
Dear Karma Cleanser: So I was trying to arrange a trip for my mother to fly to talk to her estranged sister. They haven’t talked for 20 years, and now my aunt wants to extend the olive branch. But the people in airline reservations were being difficult about me paying for a third-party passenger. (I…
.01 Tolerance
On Nov. 30, Ryan Snodgrass sat in a wooden chair in a small courtroom and tapped his right foot. When US Immigration Judge William Cassidy — one of the toughest immigration judges in the country — called Snodgrass to testify, the hazel-eyed 19-year-old ambled to the stand. A lot was to be decided that day.…
Stargazer
Sagittarius The Archer (Nov. 22 — Dec. 20) Communications on any level, errands, talk, writing, and manipulating words are features of the week. The Archers are known for a positive attitude that is often met with good fortune. At this time an authority is unwilling to accept anything on faith. He/she wants proof. For All…
Another King’s Dream
I’ve been thinking about France lately. Unless you’ve been disconnected from planet Earth, or if you just ignore France because the French are evil cowards, you’ve seen or heard something about the violent rioting in the streets of Paris and other cities. The unrest there led to a massive police and even army movement, night…
Film Clips
New Releases THE FAMILY STONE Yuletide comedy-drama The Family Stone begs the question: Why steer the guests toward warm milk when everyone really wants spiked eggnog? Initially more reminiscent of the brittle Thanksgiving yarns Home For the Holidays and Pieces of April than the warm-and-fuzzy titles usually foisted upon us at Christmas, this ensemble piece…
Breaking News
“Does Charlotte-Mecklenburg have a gang problem? Yes.” — Charlotte Observer Gosh, and we thought MS-13 was just another hardcore band. Bill Clinton says Bush “flat wrong” on climate A peeved Bush reasserts his steadfast belief that the world is not flat. Ready for AL IN THE FAMILY? The Rev. Al Sharpton, who’s run for mayor,…
